It's already being dubbed the new Downton Abbey, but the fact is that the BBC's new period comedy Blandings has a better writer: P.G. Wodehouse. It's the latest top flight project that will be filmed in the north or Ireland, with a cast that includes Absolutely Fabulous' Jennifer Saunder and Harry Potter star Timothy Spall.

Blandings will be filmed in the imposing surroundings of Crom Castle, in County Fermanagh, and is sure to highlight the north's pristine landscapes and the talent of their world class film crews.

Tourism Minister Arlene Foster told the Belfast Telegraph: 'The fact that Crom Castle was selected as the venue to film the PG Wodehouse Blandings stories is a real coup for Fermanagh. It was great to meet the cast and crew, and to see at first hand the program being filmed.'

The north is also the principal location for another new big budget from BBC drama, The Life and Adventures of Nick Nickleby, which will begin filming there in June.

A five-part adaptation of Charles Dickens’ classic tale, the drama depicts the hardscrabble life of Nicholas Nickleby, whose behind the scenes study of elite boarding schools teaches him how pursuit of wealth can blight the lives of the poor.

The BBC's new adaptation the story will unfold in a nursing home instead of a boarding school, however. Executive producer Melanie Stokes told IFTN.ie: 'We are thrilled to be making this contemporary twist on Dickens' classic tale to mark his bicentennial for the daytime audience. Joy Wilkinson has found an urgent theme - every bit as pressingly important as Dickens' original.'